With four games left in conference play and South Carolina sitting second in the SEC, Wednesday's 84-58 beatdown against Tennessee brings the Gamecocks a game behind the SEC leaders, Kentucky. If the Gamecocks hold their place or do better, then they would receive a first-round bye in the SEC tournament at the beginning of March.
Last time the Gamecocks battled the Volunteers, South Carolina was only down by one at half. That all changed when Tennessee's leading scorer Kevin Punter dropped 27 of his 36 points in the second half and the Gamecocks lost 69-78.
But with a home crowd behind the Gamecocks and Punter out with a stress fracture in his foot, Tennessee didn't have much energy.
The Gamecocks — specifically senior Michael Carrera — came out shooting cold, yet still owned the lead from a minute into the game. Usually, when Carrera starts off shaky, so do the Gamecocks. Tonight was an exception. Even though Carrera went 0-4 on three pointers and 2-7 on field goal attempts, South Carolina dominated the paint in the first half on both sides of the floor. They scored 26 of their 34 points in the paint compared to Tennessee's eight.
Junior Duane Notice lead all first-half scorers with 15 points on 4-5 from downtown.
The second half was a half of two runs. South Carolina held their first-half momentum and came out of the locker room with a 10 point run, but Tennessee answered with a 9-1 run to make the game 61-48. Part of the problem when Tennessee went on their run was their rebounding. When the Gamecocks switched to 3-2 zone on defense, the Volunteers attacked the boards when their shots went up, gathering eight offensive rebounds in the second half alone.
However, that all ended when the Gamecocks regained momentum and finished the game strong, holding the Volunteers to 10 in the last 9-and-a-half minutes.
Notice lead the Gamecocks with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes. Carrera finished strong, pulling out a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gamecocks' next game will be at Mississippi State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.